A piece of Canadian history, Banff National Park is the world’s third-oldest national park and, over the course of its 140-year existence, has managed to walk a fine line between easy access and careful environmental protection.
25.04.2024 - 15:59 / forbes.com
Whether you celebrate Earth Day, National Park Week or World Environment Day, you can’t escape the many ways these celebrations strive to bring more attention to the damage the industrial world can wreak on our planet. But after the worldwide Covid-19 pandemic brought the travel industry almost to a standstill, American travelers rushed back to their airports as soon as they could.
Today countries like France are reporting record-setting reservations ahead of the Olympics. So how useful are these “green” endeavors? Are travelers influenced by environmental concerns? Are they deciding to go backcountry camping close to home rather than to book a starred property on the other side of the world? Are they headed to the National Parks in larger numbers than ever before?
“Five-star hotels can afford to lead the way of sustainability,” said Melissa Biggs Bradley, founder of Indagare Travel, a membership-based luxury travel agency and media company that operates out of New York City. Biggs Bradley believes that her market segment has an absolute obligation to protect the planet and find solutions to our climate-related issues.
“Since last year,” she said, “we are 100% carbon-neutral, which means that we calculate the carbon footprint of any trip we take or book, and offset it through Sustainable Travel International.” Ms. Biggs Bradley maintains that Earth Day and other nature and climate efforts have helped achieve awareness. “We start with luxury hotels and the most privileged travelers,” she said, “and even if they don’t recycle, they know they should.” Whether she is talking about food or water waste, as well as sustainable practices, she believes that hotels and individual travelers can no longer ignore the impact of travel.
Sustainable Travel International was founded in 2002 and has since expanded its reach to include tourism companies, destinations and consumers who wish to understand how to offset their trips.
“We are not trying to convince people to travel less,” said Kaitlyn Brajcich, Senior Manager for Communications. “We help clients measure their impact and choose how to counter it, whether through our forestry, renewable energy, blue/teal carbon or innovative climate tech projects.”
According to a 2022 travel trend survey, Campspot, a camping booking site and software provider for campgrounds, reported that “travelers are more eager than ever to explore the great outdoors.” In fact, 69% of their customers list ‘travel to new places to camp’ as their top travel goal.
“Last year, 77% of our travelers surveyed mentioned access to ‘fresh air’ as a vacation goal,” said Chief Marketing Officer Erin Stender. “As important as proximity to water, and high speed internet!” Many campers today choose RV’s,
A piece of Canadian history, Banff National Park is the world’s third-oldest national park and, over the course of its 140-year existence, has managed to walk a fine line between easy access and careful environmental protection.
Since time immemorial, Mother Nature has been hard at work in Arches National Park, famous for its namesake rock formations that splash soaring arcs of red-orange sandstone against the bright blue sky of Utah. True to its name, Arches has the highest concentration of natural stone arches of anywhere on Earth, from the graceful 306ft-long Landscape Arch to tucked-away Delicate Arch, a Utah icon so photo-worthy that it’s emblazoned on the state’s license plates.
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